Telephone calls have been traditionally routed through the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and, more recently, over data networks using Voice over Internet Protocols (VoIP), the Internet being an example of such a data network. VoIP transmission of voice conversations with a VoIP-enabled phone serve to ease changes in the system, lower costs and provide numerous new integrated services.
Wireless telephone calls are typically routed through end-to-end circuit switching services using radio waves over the air and circuit-switched landline phone network. Wireless telecommunication systems contain a radio base station, which is a fixed device that enables communication between the mobile transceiver and a landline phone network. There is currently no method or system for providing VoIP service via a radio base station for a mobile terminal.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art to provide VoIP service via a radio base station for a wireless terminal so that a voice stream is only circuit-switched over the air and packet-switched between the radio base station and the VoIP phone network (i.e., a packet-based network).